“A Clockwork Orange” Reboot? “Alex” will Hit Theaters Next Year

Another case here of “I don’t know much about it but I’m fascinated to learn more. I found this little droogie over at Quiet Earth and simply had to share. It looks like someone is trying to reboot or maybe sort of remix Stanley Kubrick’s A Clockwork Orange. Now one might think most would immediately scream blasphemy at even the thought of such an idea. And given that A Clockwork Orange is my favorite movie of all time (and Kubrick my favorite director), you might think I’d be among them. And yet…

There’s an interesting idea at the heart here and I for one can’t wait to seek this out somewhere next year when it hits theaters. After viewing the trailer it seems clear that writer/director Florian Frerichs isn’t trying to capitalize on Kubrick; but rather paying a low budget homage here. I like the time period, setting and look of this future. Plus the fact that the plot seems to stem from finding an old VHS copy of A Clockwork Orange warms my heart (reminds a little of Human Centipede II no?).

In the near future the society of a megalopolis is divided into two fractions: on one side a super-rich minority, led by the ruthless dictator Lucius (Werner Daehn), living a life of debauchery and decadence. On the other side the vast majority, dwelling in different degrees of nearly unbearable poverty.

When the young Frederick (Nikolai Kinski) comes in possession of the partial copy of a long forbidden Stanley Kubrick movie, it sparks a growing movement amongst the city’s formerly aimless youths, developing fast into serious opposition to the ruling system, which retaliates with rapidly increasing brutality. Frederick becomes Alex, his friends the new droogs. But are they even aware of the consequences of their actions?

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As soon as they started speaking English I was out. Made it feel like a joke. Something about its attempt to be an uncanny homage really gets under my skin in a creepy way, specifically the moloko vellocet scene.

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Kurt Halfyard: Indeed. It came up due to this wonderful video essay on Heaven’s Gate and The Lone Ranger: https://vimeo.com/120401922 However, I’ve watched Heaven’s Gate multiple times well before this. I even wrote about it in 2004 —...

Jonathan: I always get Millennium Films and Millenium Entertainment mixed up… but both distribute complete trash with some impressive star power. I’m sure these films are relatively high paychecks with short filming commitments and minimal press. Can’t blame...

Jonathan Hardesty: Well, and comparing those films and directors in the context of the new Godzilla film is more interesting than just doling out a star rating and saying that Godzilla was either “good” or “bad.” Or at least I find that discussion more...

Arnold Schizopolis: While watching a film, I often find myself trying to figure out the filmmaker’s vision (themes, concepts and/or thesis) and by the end, wonder if he or she was successful. That’s more challenging for me than whether the film met my expectations....

Jonathan: Yeah, Harrison’s career since ’97 has been astonishing in how much it contrasts with the rest of his career. In the 14 movies he’s starred in since Air Force One, every movie has been god-awful–except 42, which I appreciate for the moderately...

Andrew James: So I like Blade Runner quite a bit – though I seem to be in a minority of people that don’t absolutely adore it. Next Incendies blew me away while Prisoners did very little for me and Enemy was arguably the worst movie of the year. So Villeneuve (for...

Jonathan: In ’95, a Blade Runner sequel came out as a novel – Blade Runner 2: The Edge of Human. I bought it for fifty cents with its cover ripped off at a five ‘n dime. I liked it then, although I was also ten years old–and Deckard was not a replicant...

Rick Vance: It adds to the bleak and overbearing nature of the world and the motives and behaviors of the police office if people who are ‘Blade Runner’ hunt without that knowledge (It also isn’t a question so I am glad we all dodged that bullet). (I agree...

kurt: One Last thing: http://badassdigest.com/2015/0 2/27/do-androids-dream-of-blad e-runner-making-sense “In turning dick’s novel into a film (if paul sammon’s book “future noir” is to be believed) hampton fancher wrote a line in a draft either very late in...

Andrew James: What Kurt said. I don’t take so much “stock” out of it as it just happens to have a lot of classic blind spots for me. Out of the 250, there were about 42 that I hadn’t seen which is just about exactly how many Cinecasts we do per year so...

Kurt Halfyard: He talked about it on the show, it’s as good a populist list as any, and easy to find. A mixture of arthouse (La Strada, Fanny And Alexander, L’Avventura) and populist (Shawshank Redemption, Godfather, American Beauty) as well as old (Gold Rush, Rear...

Rick Vance: I am surprised Andrew has so much stock in the imdb top 250.

Matt Gamble: I don’t think I called it exciting outside of a direct comparison to the fucking Oscars, but I still do find it fun. NXT is a waaaaay better product than Raw or Smackdown , and I watch Ring of Honor on occasion (going to a house show later this month). I...

Craig: I can’t believe Matt thinks WWE is still exciting, I still watch it out a weird sense of obligation more than anything else. He should get on Independent companies like Pro Wrestling Guerilla where his mind would be blown. https://www.youtube.com/wat...

Sean Kelly: I couldn’t disagree more with Andrew on WYRMWOOD, which I had quite a lot of fun watching at Toronto After Dark (it’s definitely a film that must be seen theatrically with a crowd). In my opinion, it’s not “just another zombie movie”...

Dean Speir: I clearly like Miller’s Crossing a great deal more than you do (and am in vociferous disagreement with your affection for that faker Brian DePalma!), and I think one of the problems is that you’re unfamiliar with the novels of Dashiell Hammett,...

Jandy Hardesty: I have the whole Keaton Blu-ray set from Kino. I’ve watched like three shorts from it, and that’s it. I was planning to mainline it when Karina was born, but guess what – silent films do not work well when you’re sleep-deprived, not even...

Bob Turnbull: I thought there were some funny bits to the underwater sequence – fencing with a swordfish (using another swordfish), the men at work sign, the rinsing of a pot with water while underwater, etc. Not uproarious stuff (and, to be honest, not up to the level I...

Jandy Hardesty: I watched The Navigator for my Blind Spot series a couple of years ago – I liked the meet cute sequences between Keaton and the girl the best (the fumbling around the kitchen, and then the incredible devices they rigged up eventually). The underwater...

Andrew James: J.K. Simmons was pretty much declared the winner of best supporting actor since the movie was released. It’s been a lock since day one; everyone knew it. Moore has always been a pretty safe bet as well.

Matt Gamble: Yeah, but I’ve had years to cultivate this idiotic persona.

Matt Gamble: You’re entering into a world of pain, Andrew. Until you have some actual relevant data to measure it is pointless to declare who or what the Oscar favorite is. You know, stats and such. Calling out an Oscar favorite before anyone has placed a single vote is...